Top Petite Clothing Brands to Shop

As someone who is 5’3″, I used to find it very hard to find petite clothing brands. It’s gotten a whole lot better over the past few years, but there used to be this thing that there was a “regular” size that set the standard on how clothes would fit everyone. As a woman with a petite frame, I would find myself struggling to find clothes that would fit my shorter torso and my short legs. Things would drag or not fit right and it would frustrate me to no end.

Over the years, I was able to figure out certain ways to wear clothes that would make me, as a petite woman, look taller than I actually am. But the next question would be – well, where do I shop for these pieces. That’s why I decided to write up this go-to post for petite friendly brands and stores to shop.

As we go through some of these major brands for petites to shop pay attention to the brands that are also housed within each one of these stores as this will also expand the places that you can shop. For example, you can shop at Macy’s and find pieces from Free People, Anthropologie and other amazing petite friendly brands. But maybe, you don’t want to head to the department store but want to go directly to the brand store. The list just keeps expanding through the brands that are found within those big petite friendly stores that you can shop.

Below you’ll find a collection of some of my favorite petite clothing brands that I still shop to this day along with some petite outfits to add to your closet.

SHOPPING PETITE CLOTHING BRANDS

STYLING PETITE CLOTHES

If you’re under 5’4″, you’re considered petite. And if you’re petite, you might have a hard time finding clothes that fit you well and petite clothing brands because some brands don’t always have a diverse size range or carry petite sizes. But don’t worry – I’m here to help you out.

First, let’s start with some basics. If you’re petite, you should avoid clothes that are too loose or baggy. Instead, opt for clothes that are more fitted to your body. This will help you look taller and slimmer. Additionally, you should also avoid clothes with too much detail or embellishment. Too much fussiness can make you look even smaller. Now that you know the basics, let’s move on to some specific tips.

Avoid excessive embellishments. Too many details can overwhelm your small frame. Stick to simple, clean lines.
Stick to a monochromatic color scheme. Wearing one color from head to toe will help you look taller and leaner.
Choose vertical stripes over horizontal ones. Vertical stripes will elongate your body.
Play with proportions. Wearing a crop top with high-waisted pants or a mini skirt with a longline jacket are all great ways to play with proportions and create the illusion of height

TOP Petite CLOTHING BRANDS TO SHOP

NORDSTROM

Nordstrom has always been a one-stop-shop for getting a good amount of petite friendly pieces for women to add to your closet. It’s really easy to find petite clothing online just by filtering by size and selecting petite sizes. But, of course, don’t feel obligated to only stay within the petite selection. Look around a bit and shop the petite friendly brands that Nordstrom has such as Topshop, NIC+ZOE, Halogen, and so many more. I especially like how diverse the looks are. Though you’re shopping in one particular size, you can still find so many different looks depending on your personal style.

ASOS

ASOS houses its own brand of clothing as well as some other brands including Missguided and Nike. I absolutely adore the ASOS Design pieces and I shop those quite frequently. Like many other petite friendly brands, you can shop the petite sizing directly and focus on going through those pieces primarily so that you don’t have to sift around too much. But one of the biggest things that I love about ASOS, especially when it comes to being a mommy, is that when I was pregnant, they had so many cute petite maternity pieces. When I was pregnant, I had issues with finding clothes that didn’t drown me but still fit my belly and ASOS became one of my main places to go.

EXPRESS

When I used to shop for a lot of workwear, Express was my main place for shopping for dress pants. Their petite dress pants always made me feel as if I hit the jackpot and found pants that were also available in non-petite sizes – which is not always something that happens. They fit amazingly lengthwise as well as waist size with the pants primarily being focused on the shortened length and going up to size 18. Along with the dress pants, Express has so many other cute pieces in petite and non-petite sizing that are perfect for the petite frame.

LOFT

Looking for something simple, cute, and ultimately stylish? The LOFT is the petite-friendly brand that you definitely need to shop. I’ve always been able to find pieces when shopping at LOFT without even having to look directly for petite sizing. Whether in-store or online, it’s been a great place to shop for essential pieces that are needed for your closet as well as fun summer pieces that are great for keeping things simple but fashionable. I used also shop LOFT when I was teaching and needed to get a lot of teacher-friendly outfits. Everything that I found was always great for being able to wear to work and teach in. And as many teachers know, you want to keep your personal style but you also want to be comfortable and that never was an issue for me. Everything was in my size, cute, and super-duper comfortable.

H&M

Also speaking of basics, H&M always houses cute basic pieces that are perfect for the petite frame. I head here when I need to shop for myself, my husband as well as my son because it’s definitely a great place to shop for the entire family. I love the dresses from here as well as the Fall/Winter pieces. So when I need a good comfy sweater and some comfortable jeans or pants, I’ll most likely end up in H&M and end up shopping for myself and my son since their baby and toddler clothes are so super cute.

ABERCROMBIE

I’ve been shopping at Abercrombie quite a lot recently. Especially because I just discovered that they have many petite friendly styles and have petite sizing. This outfit right here in this post is from Abercrombie and when I purchased it and finally received it, I was super excited of how well it fit and how much these mom jeans made me look taller than I really am. Since then, I’ve gotten quite a few pieces from shopping online including a pair of jeans and a few dresses – which you can shop those looks right from my LivingLesh LiketoKnow.It page. So if you’re looking for a casual but flirty style, Abercrombie is definitely the place to shop.

petite clothing brands

URBAN OUTFITTERS

I will admit that I’m slightly addicted to shopping at Urban Outfitters, and there hasn’t been a moment where I have gone into the store or shopped online and haven’t left finding the pieces that I need. This is probably the only brand that I actually have the app for. I love to get updates for when new arrivals hit. Their pieces are made keeping the variety of different body types in mind. Not all of the clothes are marked as petite sizing, but I have found that they usually fit petite body types. For the most part, I shop at Urban Outfitters for dresses, sleepwear, shorts, and crop tops. The crop tops and dresses are key pieces that I wear and suggest for petites to add to their closet so that they can look taller.

AMERICAN EAGLE / AERIE

If anyone ever asks me where I get my jeans, I always recommend American Eagle. If anyone ever asks where I get my swimsuits, I always recommend Aerie. The American Eagle and Aerie brand is super inclusive and celebrates diversity. I mean, what other brands do you consistently see diverse body types on their shop pages. Since I was in high school and started buying my own clothes, I would always go to American Eagle first to find jeans that fit my shorter legs. I love their variety of fits and how each fit they sell comes in inclusive sizing. I mean, honestly, the majority of their clothes are super inclusive. You can even shop for rompers that are fit for the petite frame without worrying about the fact that you can’t get the ones that are pants because they are going to drag. It’s a win for everyone!